Project Description

P.O.V. is a documentary series produced by American Documentary, Inc., that is distributed through public television stations nationwide. High Impact Television™ is a "beyond outreach" effort that forges national and local partnerships to build new audiences, educate viewers, and foster sustained public discourse and activity around the issues raised by P.O.V. programming. HITV campaigns have been implemented around select programs such as Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter (1995, about Alzheimer's disease and issues of caregiving), Silverlake Life: A View From Here (1993, about AIDS), Girls Like Us (1997, about empowering young women and intergenerational problem solving), and If I Can't Do It (1998, about disability issues). Local public television stations often partner with P.O.V. by coordinating human service and other relevant local organizations in order to maximize the program's impact on different audiences. Local activities include call-in shows, on-line support systems, sneak preview screening/discussion forums, coalition building, etc.

Civic Engagement/Dialogue Activities
HITV maximized the presentation of Girls Like Us, Jane C. Wagner's and Tina DiFeliciantonio's Emmy award-winning film about four teenage girls growing up in South Philadelphia. Using its broadcast as a centerpiece, P.O.V. partnered with Girls, Inc., a national organization dedicated to serving young women, to launch the "Listen UP! Girls Like Us" campaign. The effort inspired intergenerational dialogue, offered safe venues for potentially ongoing discussion of sensitive issues and garnered attention for the program as a tool to encourage adults to become aware of the issues affecting the young women in their lives. Events were held in cities across the country and often co-hosted by a wide range of partner organizations including Girls, Inc., the American Association of University Women, the National 4-H Clubs, the YWCA, and local public television stations. In Tennessee, Girls, Inc., and the University of Memphis held a widely promoted sneak preview screening and discussion with young women and adults from around the city. Information about available community resources was shared and viewership in the area increased by threefold for the broadcast of the program.

Information Sources
High Impact Television™, Washington D.C.: The Benton Foundation, 202-638-5770.